THE TERRIBLE STORM!INTRODUCTIONFor every generation there is a special truth, a "present truth," that it must accept and proclaim. God has entrusted Seventh-day Adventists with the Three Angels Messages. Those messages are given in expanded form in the Great Controversy. It is the work of our people to tell all men everywhere that they must come to Jesus, turn in His strength from their sins, and obey His Ten Commandment Law. Along with this, the warning is given to flee from the churches fallen in disobedience, lest the faithful be engulfed in the final outpouring of Gods wrath on the wicked. Gods last warning is a message prompted by deep love for the stubborn and rebellious, before human probation forever closes. Let us say it again: Gods last warning--the warning of the terrible storm to soon fall on the wicked--is given because of His deep love for mankind. When men preach that no retribution is coming because God is too loving to send it, they are not only teaching error but encouraging the wicked to remain in their sins. None who believe that Christ saves them from their sins should teach this.A BRIEF SPIRIT OF PROPHECY SUMMARY Here are some Spirit of Prophecy passages which overview the subject. They are in total harmony with the Bible. A single angel destroyed all the first born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning.
"A hundred and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord by a holy angel declared to Noah His purpose, and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark he was to preach that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. [The antitype of the Third Angels Warning. Read Revelation 14:9-12]. By faith Noah, warned of God of things not seen as yet [still future], moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which
May we not have a part in lulling them in that fatal security.
"God went through the proud land of Egypt as He will go through the earth in the last days. With fire and tempest, earthquake, and death, the great I AM redeemed His people." Christ's Object lessons, 287. God is deepest love, mercy, and compassion. This is part of His character. He is also a God of justice. This is another aspect of His character. Properly understood, His justice is always a mercy; for He mercifully executes judgments upon the wicked, just as earlier He justly extended mercy to them. Throughout the history of the world, from Cain to just prior to the Second Advent of Christ, all of the problems in this world have been caused because of sin; and nearly all of the disasters have been inflicted by the wicked or directly by Satan. But this does not negate the fact that God also can and will step in, from time to time, and will Himself punish incorrigible sinners. The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy always attributes the final Second Death to fire sent by God. It is not wrong for God to kill the incorrigibly wicked. It is never evil of Him to do this. It is just, fair, right, and good. And it is not murder. It is never wrong for God to slay the incorrigibly wicked. But it should be understood that, whenever it occurs, the sinner was responsible for the result, not God. He only executed the judgment. In relation to cause and effect, the sinner slew himself. A terrible storm of Gods wrath against sin and incorrigible sinners is just before us, the worst storm of this kind in human history. Men have to be warned of this storm; for it is about to break upon our world in fullest measure. Before the Flood, God called Noah to warn mankind of the approaching storm. Today, He calls upon His remnant people to give the Third Angels Message. This message is the most solemn warning ever given to the world. We dare not muffle that message nor turn from it. At His first advent, Christ lived a life of mercy. At His second coming and beyond, down to the final destruction of the wicked, He will bring justice. The present mercy was shown in His life and the future judgments in many of His parables (Matt 25, for example). Remember: It is never wrong for God to be merciful or to be just. It is never wrong for God to punish the incorrigibly wicked by slaying them. Their probation is past. A continuation of their life would only bring added misery to themselves and everyone around them. In mercy, they are given death. It is always dangerous to twist Gods Word in order to vindicate a personal theory. Yet, in this case, the dangerous part may not be the theory but the training of the mind in wresting Scripture. One is thereby emotionally prepared and intellectually trained to tackle additional wrestings in order to support later erroneous theories, presented by itinerant preachers or tapesters. God is wonderful in His love and care. He yearns for His children to return the strong love that He feels toward them. This love surpasses that of any creature that He has made. Throughout eternity we will be studying into the depths of this marvelous compassion and continually be awed by its immensity. Christ's sacrifice on Calvary, His mediation in the heavenly Sanctuary, and His ministry to fallen beings through the Holy Spirit will be subjects of special thought through all time to come. These are topics that angels examine closely. And all the beings on a thousand worlds will do the same through eternal ages. In this life there are also trials, perplexities, and problems. These are permitted by God in order to keep us close by His side and to help develop in us those attributes that we need. God does not send them, but He permits them. But in the case of those who are running from God and, amid the enchantments of Satan, refuse to acknowledge the blessings or, in gratitude, return because of them, then God must send judgments. These judgments are sent to awaken men to their danger before it is too late. To bring the sinner home or to call straying children back, these judgments are necessary. And they come by a more direct intervention of Gods providence. But there is also a third level of judgments. These are the judgments upon those hardened in wickedness that come as a punishment in this life. Such judgments do take place and are necessary. They have occurred in the past, they are taking place today, and they will increase in the future. The Third Angels Message is a direct warning to our time, that terrible judgments are to increase and a massive fallout of judgments is soon to deluge earths inhabitants if they do not repent, return to God, and obey His holy law. In this present study, we are going to examine the judgments of God. Our attention will not be on the minor trials and perplexities of life. We are considering the judgments. It is a striking fact that, at the very time in human history when men most need to be warned in regard to these judgments from God, Satan has arranged matters so that our Western culture is rapidly moving toward the erroneous concept that wrong should not be punished and the wicked should not be hurt or killed. It is very clear from Scripture that this idea is un-Biblical. It is at this very time that many of the people of God are turning from this important aspect of the final message and are teaching the opposite, that no judgments or punishments from God need be expected; for none will take place. There have never been any in the past and there will be none in the future. While the world begs for leniency for hardened thieves, rapists, and murderers, a growing number of Christians are urging toleration and compromise for the sake of peace; and many among the remnant are viewing with favor the idea that God has no commanding qualities, no push, and no punishmentonly a passive love able to be stepped on, and little more. This error teaches that, if the wicked are ever punished, someone else will have to decide to do it. God surely wont; for, though He has mercy, He has no justice. Some new kind of fire will have to be invented to destroy the wicked after the millennium because, contrary to Scripture, none is going to come from God out of heaven for that purpose. Such a view of haphazard management of affairs is considered quite loving; with the thought that, instead of a mercifully brief punishment and death of the wicked by a just God, it is far better to let Satan start the fire and be placed in charge of hellfire. He will give them excruciating suffering for a time far longer than God would; but, according to the theory, this will better show the love of God. It is said that the final fire will eventually burn out by itself when Satan in the ages to come tires of his task; then God will step forward and make a new heaven and a new earth. The center of the Adventist message should be the Third Angels Message. And here is how this message from God to the world in our time is described: "The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the Third Angels Message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of Gods judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them. Prophecy declares that the first angel would make his announcement to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. The warning of the Third Angel, which forms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no less widespread. It is represented in the prophecy as being proclaimed with a loud voice, by an angel flying in the midst of heaven; and it will command the attention of the world. "In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond (Rev 13:16), to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it."Great Controversy, 449-450. The truth is that the judgments of God upon sinners is an act of mercy on His part toward the wicked, the righteous, and the unfallen worlds. The truth about the judgments and the wrath of God is a clear vindication of His character of love and mercy. By a better understanding of His justice, the great depths of the mercy that accompanies it is more clearly grasped. God is, indeed, love. And His justice combined with His mercy is the fullest representation of it. His love is too mature to permit Satan to be in charge of hellfire. There is no natural event of nature nor act of man or devil that can mercifully limit to the very least the amount of suffering that hellfire shall bring to each one who shall experience it, unless God steps in and actively is in charge of the entire affair. The burning question is this: Who executes the judgment? Does God do it? Or does Satan, man, or natural events? The Inspired Word consistently tells us that Christ alone will be in charge of hellfire. He who died in painful agony to redeem men from Satan, who followed men with pleading for most of their lifetime, is the One qualified to blot from existence those men and angels who have chosen to live only to hate and mutilate the existence of man and beast. We all know that any parent who manifests mercy without justice will ruin his child and cannot really love its best good. Just as sentimental yielding love, without correction and punishment, by a parent is not genuine love, so such love on Gods part would not be genuine either. It is time that the full character of God, in both of its aspects, were vindicated in the sight of all men. The Three Angels Messages of Revelation 14:6-12 was designed for this purpose. We are not now to turn from this message to unite with the worldlings in their erroneous concepts. The last message of mercy to a dying world is a message of Gods love. We must call people to Calvary and to obedience to His law. We must urge upon them the truths and standards given by Inspiration. We must warn them that terrible judgments are soon to fall on the unrepentant! It is the height of Gods mercy that He asks the remnant to give this warning message about His justice. It is the fullness of His love that urges His children to call men back to obedience before it is too late. Here, now, is the truth about the mercy, the justice, and the wrath of God: |